Interview with Jacob Andersen from Reto-Moto - The Nordic Angle

Focusing on game developers residing in the Nordic countries. this time around we speak to Reto-Moto, the studio behind the WWII shooter-MMO Heroes & Generals.

By
Kristian West

The Nordic Angle is an article series focusing on game developers residing in the Nordic countries in which you can read IGN Nordic: Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland.

This time around we get some interesting answers from Jacob Andersen, Game Director at Danish developer Reto-Moto, the studio from which IO Interactive originally sprung. After partaking in the birth of Hitman, Jacob has been back at Reto-Moto for some years now, in complete control of their impressive WWII shooter-MMO, Heroes & Generals.

Can you tell us a little bit about the birth of Reto-Moto and how it all ended up here, now, with Heroes & Generals?

No one says it has to be easy.

The original Reto-Moto was founded in 1997 and quickly transformed into IO Interactive, where we worked on Hitman and Freedom Fighters. After four Hitman and two Freedom Fighter games (Freedom Fighters 2 sort of transformed into Kane & Lynch in a few steps) some of us felt that it was time to try something new. And to ensure that it would be exciting (in a sort of extreme sport way) we chose to try and combine several difficult-to-get-right genres AND try to get financing in the middle of a financial meltdown. No one says it has to be easy.

Persistent online games had intrigued us for a few years and the thought of working on a live game where players would give you very direct and constant feedback was very compelling when you were used to being shielded from the audience in a developer-publisher relationship. Basically the goal was to own the whole ‘value chain’ to get the full control of the game.

Can you shed some light on what it means to focus more or less on a single game, which other games out there do you identify as your direct competitors, if any? And is it good or bad to have such competitors?

Many developers, especially with the recent rise of smaller indie games, like to take one idea and wrap it into a game, release it and then move on to the next idea/game.

It might not look like it, but Heroes & Generals is actually not much different. The game is in a constant state of change, it literally is alive. Whenever we add something new to the game, it is born in the office as an idea and then formed into a feature that is ‘released’ into the game. Some features are successful and live in the game for many years, others need, ehh, ‘tweaking’ and some are terrible and just need to be removed again.

If you are the kind of person who likes to ‘finish’ things, then Heroes & Generals would definitely be a stressful game to work on, but if you view it as a living space where you are able to grow and change, things it is absolutely amazing. It’s not a sandbox, it’s a playground where you can construct new ‘playthings’ or improve on old ones.

I don’t see any direct competitors, but obviously there are games we tend to look at for inspiration. Those games have different business models, so it is different things we look in each game. I know for a fact that Gaijin and Wargaming look at Heroes & Generals as a competitor to their games and we do have an overlap in players, but we are still very different games.

Coming from a range of top range game productions, most notably Hitman at IO Interactive, how do you feel you have evolved into “your own” as a Nordic developer over the years? Are the same things important today as they were back then?

I think we have evolved from being focused on pure gameplay/artwork guys to a bunch of guys who think of a game as a whole business, all the way from initial idea at the Friday bar to customer reactions when the idea is finally released. It is a very wide skill set that is required and it is constantly being tested. Obviously with this said it is more important for us now that we think everything all the way through where in the old days our focus was much more narrow (sales and marketing was something that just happened).

Do you think there is something special about having stayed in Copenhagen all these years in terms of what makes Reto-Moto special in a global perspective?

Not really. Not all of our team is located in Copenhagen and it works really well. We are actually in the process of expanding outside of Denmark even more.

What do you feel is special about the Danish games industry, what does it have that sets it apart from, say, the US, Japan or even our neighbors in Sweden, for example?

I think the Danish games business is very small and there is an unhealthy focus on making small games.

I think the Danish games business is very small and there is an unhealthy focus on making small games. A few of the small games make it big, but it seems there is absolutely no room for large projects other than (and still only) Hitman. Investors are very, very reluctant and risk averse and there is almost no help from the government. Getting a Danish game company listed on the stock exchange is suicide (which is why you see some going to Oslo or Stockholm). I think that’s very problematic. Sweden have a better tradition of big players and (to me at least) it seems they are very successful at that.

With gaming now more mainstream than ever, is it easier or harder to make games, and make games that are unique?

I think it is easier. Because almost everyone has access to a ‘computer’, smartphones to gamer rigs, it is possible to make a good business out of a niche market. You don’t need to have a concept that appeals broadly anymore, so there is more room to make unique games for a smaller audience.

Can you shed some light on the process of researching for a game like Heroes & Generals. Have you traveled a lot? What's the craziest thing you have had to do in order to gain proper insight into the historical and mechanical aspects of the game mythos?

Well, actually one of our reasons for choosing to make a WW2 game was that we did not need to design a whole lot of content ourselves as it is already there, and it even has great stories attached to it. If you know where to look there is very very detailed reference material available.

... even the most hidden details on everything from architecture to the mix of gunpowder in German antiaircraft ammunition.

We also rely on our community to bring ‘new’ content to our attention, which is great. We have even started a group of selected players, called the ‘Reto Reference Regiment’. These guys are absolutely WW2 nuts and are usually able to dig out even the most hidden details on everything from architecture to the mix of gunpowder in German antiaircraft ammunition. Also, when we decided to introduce the Soviets into the game, we found that it was harder to get good reference material. Funnily enough it seems to be because we, here in the West, are focusing a lot on Germany and US/Britain, and very little on Russia and the Far East. There is just as much material on Soviet equipment out there, it's just mainly to be found on Russian websites, which a normal Google search won’t bring up, which is why it's a great help to have Russian gamers helping us to get the right material.

Crazy stuff? Hmm.. In the early days we did do a company trip to the Panzer museum in Munster Germany. Not really crazy, but a good mix of heavy armor and excellent German beer!

Which other Nordic developer do you think has done well in recent years?

Actually I think the guys at IO needs a pad on the back. The company have gone through some hard times in recent years but with the release of Hitman it seems they have landed on their feet, sticking to the core of the game concept while still trying to go new ways. That is not an easy thing to do.

What do you think is the best thing about being based in the Nordics? And what is the biggest challenge?

Being able to have discussions in my native language, the subtle nuances easily gets lost when you try and express something in a language you do not master 100%. Other than that, it’s great that the weather is shit most of the time so you can work on games rather than getting burnt by the sun.

The team at Reto-Moto in Copenhagen, Denmark.

What is the most exotic geographic location you have ever hired anyone from to work with Reto-Moto?

That would probably be Brazil. Our Backend Programmer came to us all the way from South America. However, we also have people from India, Canada, Switzerland, the Netherlands and England working at Reto-Moto – it lends a great dynamic to a team working on an international game.

Do you see yourself as a PC only developer in 5 years?

For the first time ever I have skipped an entire console generation

Most likely. Even though I have been working with consoles for many years I believe their time is over, killed by mobile and tablets. For the first time ever I have skipped an entire console generation (my son still plays on the Xbox 360), because the current generation simply felt too restrictive (and thereby expensive). While we were working on the Hitman games (and before that) I thought the PC would eventually die, but with the rise of e-sports I think the tables have turned. You cannot be a pro gamer (the one job every 12 year old wants, it seems) on a console, you need a cool gaming rig. The PC might transform into something more console like, but a big box stuffed with the latest hardware is probably going to be around for a long time.